Andris Nelsons and BSO announce Shostakovich cycle extension with Deutsche Grammophon to all 15 Symphonies and release second installment of Shostakovich “Under Stalin’s Shadow”
Andris Nelsons, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Deutsche Grammophon have expanded their award-winning Shostakovich recording partnership by extending their original agreement, which focused primarily on Shostakovich Symphonies 5-10 (works composed during the period of Shostakovich’s difficult relationship with Stalin and the Soviet regime, mid-1930s to 1953), to include live recordings of the composer’s entire canon of 15 symphonies, plus the masterpiece opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.
In addition to the news about the contract extension, Andris Nelsons, BSO and Deutsche Grammophon announce the worldwide release on May 27 of the second installment of their series “Under Stalin’s Shadow”. The new two-disc set will feature Symphonies 5, 8, and 9, as well as incidental music to Hamlet; these works were recorded live during the BSO’s 2015-16 season.
Pre-orders of the album are now available through www.bso.org and Amazon; iTunes will begin pre-orders on Tuesday, May 3.
“Speaking on behalf of all of us at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, it is a great pleasure to announce the extension of our contract with Deutsche Grammophon, furthering a rich and rewarding partnership, especially now as we continue to celebrate our 2016 Grammy for Best Orchestral Performance for our first release in the series, Symphony No. 10,” said Andris Nelsons, BSO Music Director. “It is my strong belief that the journey we are all making together with Shostakovich’s invaluable music is extremely exciting and that we are truly capturing the genius of his extraordinary work – conveying true emotional depth and at the same time expressing the cultural subtext that his works reveal. We all remain truly grateful to Deutsche Grammophon for its ongoing commitment to the highest technical recording standards and simply to the immense value of Shostakovich as one of the greatest composers of the classical music canon. We hope our recordings, especially the upcoming release of Symphonies 5, 8, and 9, will provide our incredibly loyal audiences new levels of inspiration and also insight into his genius.”